Here's Looking at You, Warner Bros.) - Two-Disc Special Edition

Starring:Humphrey Bogart, Errol Flynn
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
James Cagney thrills in a rare (and limber) song-and-dance performance as composer-entertainer George M. Cohan. This nostalgic biography is told in flashbacks, covering Cohan's formative years becoming Broadway's brightest star and touching upon his loves, musicals, and artistic triumphs. Director Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood) offers Cagney ample opportunities to invent an utterly charming performance in what is practically a one-man show. If you've never seen Cagney as a hoofer, you're in for a treat: his dancing is as dynamic as anything else he's ever done on screen. --Tom Keogh

Amazon.com

Universal ruled the monster movie in the 1930s, but this hugely enjoyable DVD set offers a counter-argument from MGM and Warners. Its half-dozen horror titles run the gamut from classic vampirism to baroque romanticism, and gather horror luminaries such as Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Peter Lorre.

The greatest film of the bunch is Mad Love (1935), a rich and oft-imitated bit of perversity with a deeply romantic streak. Concert pianist Colin Clive (from Frankenstein) has his hands wrecked, and his actress wife (Frances Drake) turns to the obsessive Dr. Gogol (Lorre), who has long worshipped her. But the doctor replaces the pianist's hands with those of a murderous circus knife-thrower! Superbly directed by Karl Freund (The Mummy), this eerie film is shaped by Lorre's subtle, uncannily sympathetic performance.

Karloff reigns in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), which offers more minute-for-minute lurid action than any other movie in this set. Connoisseurs of horror will be well pleased by the roster: a crocodile pit, deadly snakes and spiders, poisons, various forms of torture including a man strapped beneath a giant reverberating bell, and Fu Manchu's sexy daughter (Myrna Loy). MGM designer Cedric Gibbons runs wild with a wonderfully daffy Deco-meets-Orientalism scheme. There are some undeniably racist epithets thrown in the direction of the evil Dr. Fu Manchu, but he gives as good as he gets, and the character is ultimately as irresistible as any evil mastermind. Karloff gives one of his juiciest performances ever.

Doctor X (1932) is presented in a recently-restored 2-strip Technicolor process (a lot of throbbing greens and oranges), which gives the movie an antique appeal. Doctor Xavier (Lionel Atwill) brings his colleagues together to figure out which of them might be the Full Moon Killer; daughter Fay Wray and reporter Lee Tracy (a typical fast-talking role for this fun actor) tag along. Michael Curtiz directed; he also did the similar Mystery of the Wax Museum, again with Atwill (available on the House of Wax disc). The Return of Doctor X (1939) is more of a curio than a full-fledged horror movie, as it has Humphrey Bogart, resplendent in a Bride of Frankenstein hair streak, in a rare supernatural outing.

The other two films are directed by Tod Browning. Mark of the Vampire (1935) is a clear example of MGM trying to ride the Dracula gravy train, with plenty of smoky graveyards, scuttling possums, and Lugosi in a tuxedo striding through giant spider webs. Lugosi is peripheral here, as Lionel Barrymore hunts down the blood-suckers. It's slow going, but the touches are wonderful and there's a spooky vampiress. Browning makes The Devil-Doll (1936) a memorably oddball thriller, with Barrymore a wronged man seeking revenge--and exploiting a device that allows people to be miniaturized. All the films have lively commentary tracks, except Devil-Doll. Overall this is a very neat package; even the inclusion of Return of Doctor X makes sense as a pairing with its original. MGM and Warners seemed embarrassed by the horror genre in the thirties, but these examples prove they could rise to Universal's game. --Robert Horton

Description

Doctor X/The Return of Dr. X Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu Mad Love/The Devil Doll

Customer Reviews:

Pre-Hays Code Wildness, Camp and Hilarity!.......2007-06-27

These films are such gems, each of them, and the restored prints are so beautiful, that this collection should not be missed whether you are a seasoned archivist or just discovering the Universal Horror Canon. The bonus features are sparse, comprising mostly commentary tracks from film historians and critics (although one,The Return of Dr. X, which stars a very creepy Humphrey Bogart, has commentary that includes the 100-year-old director!) and sometimes the theatrical trailer. But The Mask of Fu Manchu alone is worth thet price of the set for the chance to see, uncut, its pre-code craziness, high camp and very overt erotic and sadomasochistic overtones!
Barrymore, Atwill, Karloff, Lugosi, Lorre, Myrna Loy, Fay Wray... the list goes on. Whatever they're asking for this delightful box set, it's a pittance. It doesn't get much better than this.The Boris Karloff Collection (Tower of London / The Black Castle / The Climax / The Strange Door / Night Key)The Bela Lugosi Collection (Murders in the Rue Morgue / The Black Cat / The Raven / The Invisible Ray / Black Friday)

Good collection of horror films at a great price.......2007-06-13

Rather than just focusing on a few horror franchises and milking them for all they were worth with five or six B quality sequels apiece as Universal did with Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, and the Invisible Man, in the 30's and 40's Warner and MGM would usually take just one good idea and make just one good horror movie. This is a collection of six of Warner and MGM's better excursions into the horror genre during that era.

Everyone else has gone into the plots of these movies in detail, so I will not do the same. Let me point out, though, that "Return of Doctor X" is not really a sequel to "Doctor X" at all. The two stand alone. The only thing they have in common is the theme of a wise-cracking reporter on the trail of what turns out to be a mad doctor. As far as transfer quality, "Mad Love" has noticeable artifacts in the video, at least through the first half of the movie. It's nothing too distracting, though. With "Doctor X" you have to get used to the peculiarities of two-strip technicolor which includes occasional green skies and also green skin tones when people are shown in the dark. The rest of the films look quite good, and the audio quality is very good on all of the films. The extras that come with the films are as follows:

Special Features for Mark of the Vampire:
Commentary by genre historians Kim Newman and Steve Jones
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for The Mask of Fu Manchu:
Commentary by Greg Mank, author of Karloff and Lugosi: A Story of a Haunting Collaboration

Special Features for Doctor X:
Commentary by horror scholar Tom Weaver
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for The Return of Doctor X:
Commentary by director Vincent Sherman and Chronicles of Terror author Steve Haberman
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for Mad Love:
Commentary by Steve Haberman, author of Chronicles of Terror
Theatrical trailer

Special Features for The Devil Doll:
Theatrical trailer

Although not really a complaint, the packaging of this set somewhat surprised me. In particular, each DVD comes in a slim case rather than the thicker and sturdier keep case in which most of the DVDs in Warner DVD sets are packaged. At any rate, the set is a great deal for the money and I highly recommend it.

My kind of Entertainment..........2007-02-05

I won't go into the plots of all of these fine films, but will say that I bought it because of "Devil Doll". Those special effects are amazing. None of the films could be considered "Horror", though they all involve some terrific mystery plots. I was especially impressed with "Mad Love", and Peter Lorre was a very underrated actor. (See "The Beast with 5 Fingers" to verify this.) Early experiments with color also enhanced "Doctor X". This is, indeed, an excellent mystery collection, and any aficianado of the genre should have this in their collection.

Exciting Collection.......2007-01-05

An exciting collection of horror films. "Vampire" and "Mad Love" are works of art, "Fu Manchu" and "Doctor X" are stylish and sadistic, and "Return" and "Devil Doll" are campy but still artistic. Educational and entertaining. Highly recommended.

THE DREAM TEAM FOR NIGHTMARES.......2006-12-07

This set has nice clean video, and of course you can't lose with the actors and titles. One of the most interesting to watch is MAD LOVE which was Peter Lorre's US film debut. The devotee of the old Universal Horror movies will see certain scene similarities to The Phantom of the Opera, The Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, and Dracula in Mad Love, and the commentary track picks up on some (not all) of this. Interesting when you consider this is an MGM work. The only downside to this set, and it is a minor point, is the commentary track for Mark of the Vampire, where two obnoxious brits talk over each other saying little of worth. (I've noticed that on DVD commentary tracks when you put brits together, they continually talk over eachother, and it's hard to understand what they're saying. Perhaps that's why we won the Revolutionary War).
Anyway, if you love old horror movies, if you remember Famous Monsters of Filmland, if you want to see the US film debut of the man who said "You deespize me Reek, don't you?" in Casablanca--buy this set.

Warner Legends Collection (The Adventures of Robin Hood / Yankee Doodle Dandy / The Treasure of the Sierra Madre / Here's Looking at You, Warner Bros.) - Two-Disc Special Edition

Average customer rating:

WHY ONLY 1 IF YOU CAN GET 3? - Wait... IT'S 4!!
Warner Bros. Legends Collection now on restored DVD box set.
Really great movies stay great

Warner Legends Collection (The Adventures of Robin Hood / Yankee Doodle Dandy / The Treasure of the Sierra Madre / Here's Looking at You, Warner Bros.) - Two-Disc Special Edition
Starring: Humphrey Bogart , and Errol Flynn
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

Classics | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( W ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Two-Disc Special Editions | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video

Drama | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

Classics | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

The Warner Gangsters Collection (The Public Enemy / White Heat / Angels with Dirty Faces / Little Caesar / The Petrified Forest / The Roaring Twenties)
Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection, Vol. 2 (The Maltese Falcon Three-Disc Special Edition / Across the Pacific / Action in the North Atlantic / All Through the Night / Passage to Marseille)
Garbo - The Signature Collection (Anna Christie / Mata Hari / Grand Hotel / Queen Christina / Anna Karenina / Camille / Ninotchka / Garbo Silents)
Warner Bros. Pictures Tough Guys Collection (Bullets or Ballots / City for Conquest / Each Dawn I Die / G Men / San Quentin / A Slight Case of Murder)
Marlene Dietrich - The Glamour Collection (Morocco/ Blonde Venus/ The Devil Is a Woman/ Flame of New Orleans/ Golden Earrings)

ASIN: B0000AJX6K
Release Date: 2003-09-30

Amazon.com

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
Dashing Errol Flynn is the definitive Robin Hood in the most gloriously swashbuckling version of the legendary story. Warner Brothers reunited Michael Curtiz, their top-action director, with the winning team of Flynn and Olivia de Havilland (Maid Marian) and perennial villain Basil Rathbone as the aristocratic Sir Guy of Gisbourne, and pulled out all stops for the production. It became their costliest film to date, a grandly handsome, glowing Technicolor adventure set to a stirring, Oscar-winning score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. The decadent Prince John (a smoothly conniving Claude Rains) takes advantage of King Richard's absence to tax the country into poverty but meets his match in the medieval guerrilla rebel Robin Hood and his Merry Men of Sherwood Forest, who rise up and, to quote a cliché coined by the film, "steal from the rich and give to the poor." Stocky Alan Hale Sr. plays Robin's loyal friend Little John (a part he played in Douglas Fairbanks's silent version), Eugene Palette the portly Friar Tuck, and Melville Cooper the bumbling Sheriff of Nottingham. Flynn's confidence and cocky charm makes for a perfect Robin Hood, and his easygoing manner is a marvelous counterpoint to Rathbone's regal bearing and courtly diction. The film climaxes in their rousing battle-to-the-finish sword fight, a magnificently choreographed scene highlighted by Curtiz's inventive use of shadows cast upon the castle walls. --Sean Axmaker

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942)
James Cagney thrills in a rare (and limber) song-and-dance performance as composer-entertainer George M. Cohan. This nostalgic biography is told in flashbacks, covering Cohan's formative years becoming Broadway's brightest star and touching upon his loves, musicals, and artistic triumphs. Director Michael Curtiz (The Adventures of Robin Hood) offers Cagney ample opportunities to invent an utterly charming performance in what is practically a one-man show. If you've never seen Cagney as a hoofer, you're in for a treat: his dancing is as dynamic as anything else he's ever done on screen. --Tom Keogh

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Ranked at No. 30 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 all-time greatest American films, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a genuine masterpiece that was, ironically, a box-office failure when released in 1948. At that time audiences didn't accept Humphrey Bogart in a role that was intentionally unappealing, but time has proven this to be one of Bogart's very best performances. It's a grand adventure and a superior character study built around the timeless themes of greed and moral corruption. As adapted by writer-director John Huston (from a novel by enigmatic author B. Traven) it became a definitive treatment of fate and futility in the obsessive pursuit of wealth. Bogart plays Fred C. Dobbs, a down-and-out wage-worker in Mexico who stakes his meager earnings on a gold-prospecting expedition to the Sierra mountains. He's joined by a grizzled old prospector (Walter Huston, the director's father) and a young, no-nonsense partner (Tim Holt), and when they strike a rich vein of gold, the movie becomes an observant study of wretched human behavior. Bogart is fiercely intense as his character grows increasingly paranoid and violent; Huston offers a compelling contrast as a weathered miner who's seen how gold can turn men into monsters. From its lively opening scenes (featuring young Robert Blake as a boy selling lottery tickets) to its final, devastating image of fateful irony, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre tells an unforgettable story of tragedy and truth. With dialogue that has been etched into the cultural consciousness (who can forget the Mexican bandit who snarls "I don't have to show you any stinking badges!") and well-earned Oscars for John and Walter Huston, this is an American classic that still packs a punch. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Three great Warner classics in one boxed set! Each title a two-disc special edition! Contents include: The Adventures of Robin Hood; The Treasure of the Sierra Madre; and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Also, this collection includes a bonus disc: Here's Looking at

Customer Reviews:

WHY ONLY 1 IF YOU CAN GET 3? - Wait... IT'S 4!!.......2003-12-28

Well... this is the thing!

Why buy 1 or 2 if you can get 3 top double-disc editions of 3 classic WB films and PLUS get a feature length documentary about the studio who made them?

This 7-disc box seems to me to be a great buy. Check the movies for yourself... The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Yankee Doodle Dandy and The Adventure of Robin Hood - all 3 in gorgeous transfers, beautiful packeging and the most impressive list of extras I've ever seen!

If you want to see 3 of the best classic films ever made by Hollywood, look no further! Bogart, Flynn and Cagney!

With these, you can't go wrong! A really great buy!

Warner Bros. Legends Collection now on restored DVD box set........2003-11-03

Congratulations to Warner Brothers Studio for not only digitally restoring their classic movies but releasing them under the "Two-Disc Special Edition" Series. Now in addition to the two-disc sets they now box (for the first time) their 3 very best films into the "Warner Legends Collection".

All 3 movies are outstanding and are timeless classics. The American Film Institute (AFI) voted all 3 films into the greatest films including top 100 film circa 1998 for "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" & "Yankee Doody Dandy" (James Cagney received Best Actor Oscar).

"The Adventures of Robin Hood" (1938) with legend star Errol Flynn remains the best film even today depicting this fictional hero. "Yankee Doodle Dandy" Hollywood legend James Cagney in his Oscar winning song & dance man (as George M, Cohan) performance. "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1947) starring film legend Humphrey Bogart (many say this was his best role) is a western about gold treasure and what it does to man.

What makes this "Two-Disc Special Edition" Set so great? Each film has an all-new digital transfer from restored picture & audio elements. Disc 1 in this series includes; Each film has a unique "Night at the Movies" introduction by Leonard Maltin. Warner Brothers has provided the viewer with a complete specialized movie program circa the year each movie feature was made. First off, coming attractions, newsreel, Bugs Bunny Cartoon, Short Subject Film and finally the Main Feature presentation. This is an awesome treat!!!! Thank You, Warner Brothers Studio. Also you have up to 12 legendary star film trailers. Finally a full feature commentary. That's only Disc 1.
Disc 2 - has over 3 hours of extra features to include; documentaries, radio shows presentations, galleries of art/photo/publicity, cartoons, cast & crew, & vintage shorts.

With this "Warners Legend Collection" box set you get a bonus 7 disc, "Here's Looking At You, Warner Bros." - the history of Warner Bros. Studios. (108 min documentary) excellent bonus!!

All Movies & Extras are Standard Format (4:3 ratio / tv size) Pre- WideScreen 1953. Robin Hood is beautiful TECHNICOLOR. (even today it is still regarded as the best color) Pictures & sound are outstanding. This is a must have collectible box set. I especially love the "Night at the Movies" program. Enjoy.

Really great movies stay great.......2003-10-07

What a collection! Three of the best movies Warner Bros. ever made (and they made a lot) are given the lavish treatment on DVD usually reserved for only special new movies, and I am grateful they did it up right.

Each film is given the 2-disc treatment, with plenty of extras, plus excellent commentaries. I love when they give the classics this much attention.

Oh, there is one drawback...Hollywood, please, no more Leonard Maltin as host of classic DVDs! I know you probably think the public has a recognition of him as a famous movie reviewer, and thus his hosting must be a plus because will buy it, but you would be surprised to see how many of those people are truly, truly sick of him and shun his ever appearance. I know I got fed up with seeing him a long time ago. So has everybody I know. I almost hesitate picking up a DVD if he is anywhere on it. Turner Classic Movies' Robert Osborne is a much better choice for host. Osborne has style, sophistication, and an intelligence that is delivered on a friendly, low-key level. Maltin is too much in your face.

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